Remembering Chris Charbonneau

On Flag Day, June 14th, 2015, Ecovative lost a valued member of our team.

Chris Charbonneau was a man that came into work every day with incredible gusto and enthusiasm. The passion, work ethic, and humor that he brought into our daily lives will forever be missed.

Chris is remembered every day at our home away from home. I still sometimes expect to see him when I turn the corner around the dryers, or when I go into the auto-filling area of our 70 Cohoes location. The presence he brought to any area that he occupied was huge. He dominated the space he was in with a positive and encouraging manner no matter what task he was given that day.

If he thought you were down that day, he would do whatever it took to raise a smile, regardless of how he was feeling. It always seemed that everyone else took priority over his own state of being. He was always quick with a quip and could jump on any conversation with a hilarious comeback.

While he was always quick with humor, Chris’ professional work ethic was admirable. He took his tasks seriously and put every effort into optimizing and improving whatever was put in front of him. He will always be the master of the vertical panels and be remembered among the pioneers of our Myco Board development team.

Chris loved his family. There aren’t many Ecovators that share the joy of grandchildren, but Chris was one on them and he could immediately put into perspective the importance of their lives as compared to some seemingly important issue at work. That is one thing I tried to learn from him.

I know we all miss him in our own ways. For me, the selfless nature of his daily life was something to be admired and learned from. The hole that has been left by his passing will always remain. Thankfully, the pain lessens and fond remembrances increase with time. In this year-end season of gratitude and reflection, Chris has come to the forefront of my thoughts once again. He’d more than likely say, ‘get over it, Boss’, but I don’t really ever want to. His impact on all of our lives, however brief, will be felt forever... and that’s a great thing in my mind!

- Peter Flannery

In remembrance of Chris’ dedication to his work and personal life, Ecovative employees took two vertical panels that Chris worked diligently on, and pressed them into Myco Board plaques. One plaque hangs by the front door of our office to remind us as we enter and leave each day to approach the day as Chris would- with humor and passion in our hearts. The other plaque was gifted to his family in remembrance.